The invention relates to a communication system, comprising a first network, a second network, first stations coupled to the first network and second stations coupled to the second network, with the first network and the second network being mutually coupled, with the system comprising queuing means for recognizing calls for a group of second stations and placing said calls in a queue, and with the system comprising control means for assigning to calls in a queue a connection to a second station. Such a communication system is known in practice.
With communication systems of the above-mentioned kind, first stations such as subscriber stations can generate calls for establishing connections to second stations, with the second stations possibly also being subscriber stations. In known systems, such calls are always accepted as much as possible, that is to say, a connection to a second station is established as far as possible therefore, from a first station, via the first network and the second network, to a second station. If it appears that, while trying to establish the connection, the second station cannot be reached, for example, because the link between the second network and the second station concerned is engaged, the connection cannot be completed. In known systems, the call is then installed in a queue until the second station concerned becomes available and the connection can be completed. Since the connection in the above example has been established as far as possible in the second network, the call concerned will be installed in a queue in the second network. This has the disadvantage that a connection between the first and the second network is kept engaged in this manner, whereas said connection is not (yet) used in effect. Moreover, both in the first and in the second network, switching means are kept engaged unnecessarily. Furthermore, in known systems this incurs relatively high cost for the users, since the cost of the connection already established as far as possible in the second network will be accounted to the users of the first stations (subscribers).
The above situation, for example, is disadvantageous if the first network is the national (telephone) network of a first country and the second network is the national network of another country, while the first stations are subscriber stations and the second stations are agents for information and entertainment purposes. If all the agents available are, at a given moment, engaged, the subscribers concerned incur a relatively high cost for waiting for a connection to such a foreign agent. However, in case of domestic connections with the first network and the second network belonging to different districts or different telephone companies, the above-mentioned situation would also lead to unwanted cost.